After the Fog has Lifted
by Sunny Shadows
Summary: [The Fog]After the mysterious fog disappears, Nick Castle just wants to be left alone. But, of course, he can't get that lucky...
1. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Fog and/or any recognizable characters**

**Author's Note: Reviews are always appreciated! And check out my other stories!!! Sorry if this is crappy...**

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She went up to get a few photographs of the house. She was busy snapping away when the door opened and a figure appeared in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" asked the figure in a decidely male voice.

She jumped, startled. Max had said that the house was empty. "No. I was just taking some pictures for the news article..."

The figure came out of the shadows of the house and into view. Before her stood a tall man, probably in his early twenties, with black hair. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you would just go away. It's not like I need anymore to worry about right now."

"Okay," she said. She didn't want any trouble on her part. One more screw up and Jack would have her head hung on his office wall.

She turned and went back to her rental car. She set her bag down in the backseat and slid into the driver's seat. She stuck her keys in the ignition. She gave one last look at the house. The man was still standing on the porch watching her. She was sure that he wasn't going to leave until she had gone.

She opened the door to the cozy, little diner that had "Suzy's" hung in the window in pink neon lights. She spotted Max in the far corner and joined him.

"Max, I thought you said that no one was going to be home," she said angrily in a low voice. "You already know that Jack will fire me. He's just _waiting_ for an opportunity."

Max shrugged. "Hey, it was empty. I don't know what happened, Sam. Nobody's going to tell Jack anything anyway."

A waitress, smiling flirtatiously at Max, appeared beside their table. "Anything else I could get you, honey?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is..."

Sam took the opportunity to leave. If she would have stayed, she probably would have gagged at Max's pathetic pick-up lines. Even more pathetic was that Kelly, the waitress, would probably fall for it. Of course, it didn't hurt Max's chances that he had sandy blond hair, light blue eyes, and a nice build--not that Sam knew firsthand. She liked to focus on taking pictures, not her co-worker.

She drove back to the motel that she was staying in until she left late tomorrow morning. Entering the room, she placed her bag next to the dresser and sat down on the bed. She was incredibly tired, having helped Max revise his article most of the night. She laid back on the bed, promising herself that she'd just rest her eyes for a few moments, and then get right back to work.


	2. Taking a Walk

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the Fog...

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Sam woke hours later, cursing at herself. She should've been packing, not sleeping. _Oh well_, she thought. _I can't change it now. I'll just do it tomorrow morning, I suppose..._ She couldn't sleep anymore, so she decided to take a walk along the beach. She put on her shoes that she had left lying by her door and went down to the beach.

She sat on a rock and took off her shoes. Her feet sank into the wet sand as she walked along the beach, her shoes in hand. The waves rolled in gently and lapped at her feet. Looking at the stretching beach, she noticed someone staring out at the ocean. She assumed that the person was probably not armed and dangerous but more likely an insomniac. Her curiousity led her further down the beach and closer to the person.

Finally, she was close enough to see the person more clearly. She sighed. It was the man from the "empty" house. Thinking it would be best to leave him alone, Sam started to leave but instead stubbed her toe on a rock. She let out a cry of pain, breaking the man's thoughts. She sat down to examine her injured foot.

The man obviously recognized her and rolled his eyes. "Do you reporters always look for trouble?"

"First, I'm not a reporter. I'm a photographer." She found that her toe was okay and put her shoes back on.

"Well, sorry," he said sarcastically and held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Second, I wasn't looking for trouble. I don't need trouble. I have it already. Besides, I thought it was someone who wanted some human interaction in their pathetic life. Well, I guess I was right about the needing the human interaction part because nobody should be more antisocial than I am. But, I guess that there is someone..." Sam, partially ticked off and partially embarrassed about her toe, stood up and headed down the beach, back towards the motel.

"Hey, wait. I'm... sorry..."

Sam turned around and eyed him suspiciously. "Really? Because that sounded kind of forced."

He hesitated. "Nick Castle."

She took this to be a peace offering. "Samantha. Nobody actually calls me Samantha though... They call me Sam..." She stopped before she could babble on anymore.

"So, you're a photographer?"

"Yeah. I work for the _The Commons_ up in New York. It's a small newspaper, but it's growing."

Nick and Sam started walking down the beach towards the motel.

"How long are you staying?"

"Until late tomorrow morning." Sam wasn't sure if he was just making polite coversation or what. She had never been very good at telling people's moods.

He nodded. "Back to New York?"

"Yeah. Home sweet home, I guess." More like back to an empty apartment and the lonely dark room. She was like the old cat lady, without the age or the cats.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they had reached the motel, Sam pulled her key out of her jean's pocket.

"'Night," Sam said opening the door to her motel room.

"'Night."

Sam shut the door behind herself. Instead of going to sleep, she packed her clothes and regular camera in her suitcase but left out her laptop and her digital camera. She turned on her laptop and downloaded the pictures from her camera.


	3. The Diner

**A/N: This chapter is kind of a jumble of a few events, but... yeah...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Fog and probably never will...**

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Nick walked back down to his house, which had become his prison lately. But that didn't matter anymore. He was going to leave the island in a few days anyway, before the news could spread to the mainstream newspapers. Sam had been the first person down there about the story, surprisingly. The islanders had kept the story pretty quiet. They didn't want anything to disrupt the tourist season. 

Nick laid down on his bed, not bothering to pull back the covers, and stared at the ceiling, images haunting his already tormented mind. He stayed this way for hours before he finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

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Sam woke up with her face pressed against the desk. Rubbing her eyes, she realized that she must have fallen asleep after downloading the pictures and taking a quick look at them. She sat up and turned off her laptop. Good thing that she had plugged it in instead of using the battery. 

"Hey, Sam, you in there?" Max called from outside the door.

She got up and opened the door. She felt like she had died and had come back to life. She flopped down miserably on the bed.

Max stood over her and peered down smiling cheerfully. "You ready to go and get some breakfast?"

"Why are you so happy?" Sam grumbled. "Nevermind," she added as Max's smile grew wider. "Just give me a few minutes to shower." She grabbed the clothes she had left on the back of her chair and headed into the bathroom.

When she came back out, her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of relatively clean pants and a T-shirt. Before heading out with Max, she grabbed her jacket and pulled it on.

Max drove to Suzy's, which didn't surprise Sam at all. They sat at the same table they had sat at the day before. Kelly came over again to take their order. She and Max exchanged smiles, and Sam merely rolled her eyes, although she really felt like projectile vomiting across the table. After flirting with Max, Kelly took their orders and headed to the kitchen leaving Sam and Max to debate about Kelly and her "morals."

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After waking up the next morning, Nick showered and left the house in search of breakfast. Sure, he could have made his own breakfast, but he didn't want to spend more time in that house. It was too full of memories. So, instead, he headed into town, and picked out a place to eat. Perhaps it was destiny or just the good food that led him to Suzy's, but he headed into the diner. Either way, he spotted Sam in the corner of the diner with a guy by her side. A stab of jealousy poked at him, but he tried to wave it away. There was no reason for him to be jealous. Sam wasn't his girlfriend or anything. Besides, he had just lost Elizabeth. It was just too soon to start anything.

He picked out a seat at the front of the diner, but it was too late. The man sitting by Sam had already started to wave. Was he supposed to join them? He was deciding what to do when he saw Sam turn around. He didn't have a choice any more. His sense of ettiquite prevailed. Reluctantly, he joined Sam and her boyfriend at their table.

"Nick Castle, right?" the guy said as Nick sat down at the table. After Nick nodded, he stuck out a hand and said, "I'm Max Hurley. And I believe you already know Sam."

Nick shook Max's hand, again out of politeness. The waitress reappeared with Sam and Max's food, and took Nick's order. But not before flirting a little more with Max.

So, if Max wasn't her boyfriend, who was he? Her brother or something? He got his answer soon enough.

"Well, since you're here, would you mind answering a few questions?" Max asked. Sam must've given him a swift kick under the table because he winced and said to Sam, "I asked him if he minded. He doesn't _have_ to."

It made sense to Nick now. Max was the reporter and Sam was the photographer. But Max could still be her boyfriend, maybe he was just the type of guy to flirt with waitresses in front of his girlfriend.

"It's still rude, Max," Sam hissed.

Luckily, Kelly reappeared with Nick's food.

"Hey, Max, I just got off... If, you know, you wanted to do something..." Kelly said.

Sam rolled her eyes disgustedly as Max heartily agreed. The only good thing was that she had provided a distraction from Max questioning Nick.

"Of course," Max agreed wholeheartedly.

"Well, I think I'm going to leave now..." Nick said uncomfortably.

"I'll go with you." Sam followed Nick out of the diner.

When they walked outside, Sam noticed that people were trying to sneak glances at them discreetly. Too bad they weren't very good at it.

"Nick, why are they all watching us?" Sam whispered. They were making her feel nervous.

Nick stopped in front of his truck. "Get in. I'll explain on the way."

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**A/N: Well, that's how I'm going to leave it. At least it's something, I guess... Reviews are always welcome, of course...**


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